Darrow
by Kkarrie
Summary: A new team member comes to Atlantis with a past of her own. OC takes place sometime during season 3 but doesn't really pay attention to the story line.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own SGA, SG1 or anything involved with it. I do however own Farin, Darrow and her team mates. Don't steal them please.

The halls were dark as I made my way through the SGC. It was well past midnight and only the emergency lights were on. A few airmen were standing at their posts, but they were few and far between. Out of habit I kept myself very aware of my surroundings. I tucked a loose strand of my dark hair behind my ear. It had grown longer over the past year. It no longer looked the typical Air Force bob. It was now long enough to braid. I finally made it to my room on base and unlocked the door. I opened it quietly and walked in. I hadn't really moved in last year. I'd just put the boxes of my stuff there to keep it out of the halls. I lay down on my bed staring at the ceiling. I thought back to how excited I was to join the Stargate program just four years before.

_"Col. Darrow this is your team" Gen. Jack O'Neill said pointing out the only other people in his office. "This is Dr. Amy Gerrard, Maj. Ian Adams, and Cpt.. Aaron Felix." He pointed first at the only girl. She was about 35 and had short blonde hair. Geeky was the politest way to describe her and she looked nervous as Jack introduced her. Adams was a typical marine. He was buff. His red hair cut close and the freckles on his nose almost gone in the tan he'd gotten over the summer. I'd met many like him before. He would question authority to test the limits of what he could and couldn't do. Cpt. Felix on the other hand with his classic good looks and wavy brown hair was a yes man. He would balance out Adams and prove useful. At least I hoped he would._

_It had been four years almost to the day since I'd first met my team. We became fast friends immediately and when we weren't off world saving the galaxy as SG7 we were at the house my parents had left me which was close to Cheyenne Mountain. Amy and Felix had gotten closer than the rest of us and after a year they got married._

I must have fallen asleep reminiscing because the next thing I knew there was a loud thud on my door as some one knocked. Groaning I got out of bed and wandered over to the door. I opened it to reveal none other than Jack O'Neill.

"What do you want Jack?" I asked putting my hand on my hip.

"Hello to you too" he said giving a small grin. "I've just been told by Dr. Lam that you haven't been showing up to your sessions and the airman on duty last night told me you were wandering around until at least 1 in the morning." I shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep. So I went for a walk." Jack shook his head the smile disappearing from his face.

"Around a high security Air Force Base? The Airman also said you were up by the gate room." I gave him a glare. When I didn't say anything Jack continued. "Caity we found their bodies. There's nothing left on that planet to go back to." I couldn't help myself anymore my eyes welled up with tears.

"You have no idea what I went through!" I yelled at Jack. I started looking around to find something to throw at him. Jack's face went white and he grabbed my arm.

"I lost my son!" He said his cool grey eyes never leaving my own wet green ones "I know!" We stood there staring at each other for what felt like an eternity. I broke down first. Tears streamed down my face as Jack pulled me in to a hug. "I'm sorry" he said. I sniffled and I'm pretty sure I got nose junk on his uniform.

"Jack I want to go somewhere. I want to be off world again. I'm being suffocated here." I waved around at my quarters. The only sign of that this room was mine was a picture of my team sitting on the bedside table. Jack sighed.

"I'll see what I can do, but I doubt anybody is going to let you do anything until Dr. Lam gives you a clean bill of mental health. Going off world requires the ability to live alone with out having the air force watching you for suicide attempts." Jack said giving me a look which said I was responsible for the place I'd ended up.

"Right, I'll go see Dr. Lam" I conceded.

"and stop wandering around at night" Jack added

"and stop wandering around at night" I echoed. "Now leave 'cause I have to take a shower." I started pushing him towards the door. Jack laughed and gave me a hug.

"Take care Caity" he said "I'll be back tomorrow" I shut the door behind him. My thoughts drifted as I went through my daily routine.

_It had been two years since we had formed SG7. Amy and Felix were now married. Adams still gave me crap about being in charge but most of it was in good fun. We had gone to a new planet in hopes of making contact with the locals before the Ori showed up. Turns out we were too late. The Ori had placed bounties on our heads. The locals lured us into the tavern pretending like they hadn't even seen the Ori before. Before we knew it we were tied up in front of the stargate waiting for the Prior to show up. Amy was beside herself with tears. Normally she was cool as a cucumber in situations like this but getting married had played with her hormones or something. Felix was trying to console her. Adams was no doubt figuring out a way to dial Earth and escape. I was focused more on getting untied. I'd almost freed myself when the gate activated and the Prior walked through. I quickened my efforts at getting untied and succeeded. Adams saw me and gave me a wink. After that I don't remember a whole lot. Dr. Lam said it was Post Traumatic Stress that was suppressing the memories. Some how I made it to the DHD and dialed Earth, but I was the only one who made it through the gate. O'Neill and his team went through the gate while I was recovering in the infirmary and found the bodies of Amy, Felix and Adams. That was the day the Air Force made me move all my things to Cheyenne mountain. Although looking back that was probably more to do with the fact I tried to OD on the pain killers the doctors had given me. I'd been taken off of active duty and was told to visit Dr. Lam every day to discuss my emotions and problems I was experiencing dealing with the death of people who were basically my family. I went to three funeral services through out the next week. Met too many family members and friends and then found myself growing weary of the Air Force. I tried moving off base but the Brass wouldn't allow it._


	2. Chapter 2

I stepped out of the bathroom toweling my hair. I was wearing uniform pants and a long sleeve black t-shirt. If I was ever going to get out of this Hell Hole called Cheyenne Mountain I would need to start acting like an officer again. I managed to make it to the cafeteria in time to get breakfast. I ate and then made my way to the infirmary. Dr. Lam greeted me with a smile. She'd probably already talked with Gen. O'Neill.

"Caity how nice to see you" she said "If you want to wait in my office I'll be right there." I watched as she went over to a bed where a marine was sitting. His arm looked pretty torn up.

I wandered into her office, surprised to find some one already there. He was absorbed in a file in his lap. The man was wearing a sports jacket over a dress shirt with a pair of jeans. He wasn't military that much I could see. I awkwardly cleared my throat. He looked up from the file.

"Oh! I'm sorry" he said closing the folder. "Dr. Lam didn't say anything about another appointment." he started to get up when Dr. Lam came in.

"Carson, you're still here?" she said a bit perplexed. "I guess now's as good a time as ever please sit back down." Carson I think is what she called him sat back down. The look on his face matched the confusion I was feeling. I slowly sat down in the chair next to him. "Caity this is Dr. Carson Beckett from the Atlantis mission. Carson this is Col. Caitlin Darrow" I gave a small smile to Dr. Beckett. I'd heard a lot about the Atlantis mission. The team was living in a city built by the ancients. It sounded exciting and I'd even talked to my team about transferring there but Amy and Felix getting married threw a wrench into that plan.

"Pleased to meet you Colonel" Dr. Beckett said I noticed a strong Scottish accent. He started shifting uncomfortably in his chair and nervously fingering the file in his lap. I narrow my eyes.

"What's going on here Doc?" I asked "What did you mean "Now's as good a time as any"?" Dr. Lam sighed.

"Gen. O'Neill suggested that you be put back on active duty."

"Really?" I asked. Dr. Lam nodded.

"He also suggested that you have a say in where you would be on duty. That's why I asked Dr. Beckett to stop by on his way back to Atlantis."

"You want me to think about transferring to Atlantis?" I asked glancing at Dr. Beckett who became very interested in the sleeve of his jacket. Dr. Lam nodded again.

"I think that putting you on active duty will help a lot with the things that you're going through. I also think that getting away from the SGC is your best bet for making a full recovery. Atlantis has an excellent Psychiatrist on staff and Dr. Beckett will be able to get what ever medications you need." Dr. Lam paused to see how I was taking the news. Seeing that I hadn't hyperventilated or anything she continued. "I talked it over with Gen. O'Neill this morning when he came in and he agrees 100% with me." I ran my fingers through my hair which had dried by this time. Getting away from Cheyenne Mountain would be nice. I loved most of the people here but I always felt like they thought I was dangerous or unstable or both.

"What would I be doing there?" I asked

"I'm not sure" Dr. Lam said "but-" Dr. Beckett interrupted her.

"You'll be helping Col. Sheppard with his team. One of his regular team members was just" Beckett stopped searching for the right words "just had an accident." He finished. Dr. Lam smiled at me.

"I think this is a really good opportunity Caity." She said trying to convince me. I stood up from my chair.

"My stuffs already in boxes. Let's get it on the jumper" I had my mind made up. Sitting in the SGC, a place that was filled with so many memories was going to keep me from moving on. Dr. Beckett also stood up.

"I'll help you move your stuff Lass. It's just you and me going back." Dr. Lam stood up too.

"Don't you want to think about this Caity?" she called as I left her office. I didn't even give her a glance over my shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

Dr. Beckett had to practically sprint to keep up with me as I walked quickly through the halls. I unlocked my door and started throwing the few things that were out of boxes into the boxes that they had come from. Dr. Beckett wandered over to where the picture of my team was. He picked it up gently.

"Dr. Lam told me about what happened." He said. I looked over at him. He continued. "I can't imagine what it must have been like." I shrugged hoping to get off the topic of my team quickly.

"I'd just rather nobody on Atlantis knew" I said "People here treat me like a bomb that's about to explode." Dr. Beckett nodded.

"Aye, it'll just be you, Col. Sheppard, Dr. Weir and myself aware of your file. Everyone else can find out from you when you're ready to tell them." He assured me.

We spent the better part of an hour putting my boxes in the jumper. I had been tested for the ATA gene when Dr. Beckett had discovered it a couple years ago and I had it, but I still had never flown the jumper before. Thankfully Dr. Beckett could fly the jumper at least enough to get us safely to another galaxy. We were all set to go and I had said good-bye to Dr. Lam. Jack had even shown up to wish me off. I secretly thought he had suggested that I should be going off world to her before we had talked this morning. I gave Jack a hug. We had known each other before I started working in the gate program but he'd been there for me after everything had happened.

"Don't get in too much trouble" he said in my ear as he hugged me good-bye. I smiled, for the first time in a long time I felt like I had something to do with my life now.

"I promise" I said. He opened his mouth again. I held up my hand. "and I promise to go see Dr. Heightmeyer while I'm on Atlantis." Jack smiled.

I climbed into the passenger seat of the puddle jumper. My stuff was in boxes piled in the back. Carson brought up the HUD and started turning on the jumper. He dialed the gate and maneuvered the jumper through. I cringed slightly. I never could get over the fact that the jumpers fit perfectly through the gate. I was always worried that they would bump into the sides. We sat through the first half of the ride in silence. We were cleared at the Midway station for departure and started off again on the 30 minute half that was left. Dr. Beckett cleared his throat.

"So ye've been pretty quiet." He said and then was silent himself as if he wanted me to respond to that. I shrugged.

"A lot has happened over the past few hours. I guess it just hasn't sunk in yet." I replied slowly choosing my words carefully. Beckett looked over at me.

"I think you'll fit in wonderfully on Atlantis" he said "I don't know if you remember but I met you before we left for Pegasus a couple years ago." I thought hard trying to remember.

"I vaguely remember that…." I trailed off. I did remember that meeting now that Dr. Beckett had reminded me.

_I'd gone with Jack to check out the base in the Antarctic. Because I had the ATA Gene they wanted me to sit in the chair. I met Col. Sheppard at Macmurdo. I was an excellent pilot in all kinds of weather, but Sheppard was more familiar with the terrain and flew us safely to the base, even though we almost got killed by a drone._

_Jack went off to meet with Dr. Weir and Dr. Jackson. I was taken over to where the chair was and made to sit in it. Nothing really happened, like most of the other people they'd found with the ATA gene I had to concentrate to get even the smallest thing to happen._

_"It's fine Lass" Beckett had said patting me on the shoulder. "The only person we've had automatic results with as of yet is Gen. O'Neill."_


	4. Chapter 4

We made it to Atlantis right on schedule. I was rushed from the jumper bay with all my stuff and led to a room. Thankfully Atlantis over looked the ocean so there were windows in my living space now. Before leaving with Beckett to go meet with Col. Sheppard, I gently placed the picture of my team on the bedside. The other things I would deal with later.

Sheppard was just like I remembered him. He was cocky with a bit of a rebellious streak in him. I think it had to do with his hair. He greeted me warmly. Technically I outranked him because I was a full fledged Colonel and he was only a Lieutenant Colonel, but I wasn't ready to tell him that.

"Colonel" he greeted me warmly shaking my hand. I smiled back.

"Sheppard" I said. "This place is amazing" I couldn't stop looking around.

"Yes it is" Sheppard said following my eyes up to the ceiling of the gate room. "We're just about to sit down for a meeting" he said "We'll get you acquainted with every body" I followed him in a large conference room. Beckett came with us. Sitting around the table already were several people. Sheppard introduced them one by one. Dr. Weir was first, she was a strict leader who I knew briefly from her time heading the SGC. Next was Teyla Emagen a local from a planet called Athos. Third was the largest human being I'd ever seen. Sheppard said his name was Ronan Dex another local this time from a planet called Sateda his arm was in a sling and he didn't look too happy about it. Sheppard looked around.

"Where is Rodney?" he said his voice full of irritation. Just then the doors opened and a man wearing a science uniform came through carrying a sandwich. "McKay you're late" Sheppard said his eyes shooting daggers at him. McKay shot a glance in my direction.

"Who the Hell is this?" he asked taking a bite of his sandwich and pointing at me with the sandwich.

"This is Col. Darrow" Sheppard said his voice a little exasperated. "She's taking Ronan's place on the team until he gets cleared by Dr. Beckett for regular duty again. If you read the memo you'd know that."

"I'm here to save your ass Dr. McKay." I said annoyed at him slightly. I heard snickering coming from almost the entire room as I said that and McKay unconsciously put a hand to his backside.

"We all know you need that" Beckett said clapping McKay on the shoulder as Rodney sat in the chair next to him. The rest of the meeting was pretty routine. Sheppard talked about the activities of the Genii and the Wraith.

I reported for duty later that week to find out that we were going on a recon mission.

"The Athosian intel says that there's Genii some where on the planet" Sheppard said. "We sent a MALP through and didn't see anything. So we're going to go check it out, because the intel also said there's a ZMP there." I nodded.

"Who all are you taking?" I asked as we walked through the halls to the gate room.

"The team" Sheppard said "The fewer the better for right now and we can always call in backup"

We gated to the planet. It was peaceful it looked a lot like the forests back home around Cheyenne Mountain.

"I'm not reading anything" Rodney said holding the life signs detector out in front of him. "The strongest energy reading is coming from that direction." He pointed to the north.

"Let's head that way then" Sheppard said starting off.

"Hang on" McKay said "I'm picking up some life signs headed our way."

"Genii?" I asked pulling out my sidearm.

"Can't tell" Rodney said.

"Let's split up" Sheppard said "Teyla you're with me we're going to go see about those life signs. Darrow you and McKay go see if you can find the ZPM. Keep radio silence if possible." I nodded.

"C'mon McKay the faster we get there the faster we'll be done." I was practically running through the woods.

"Well I'm sorry but we can't all be Olympic track stars." He griped behind me. I slowed letting him catch up. He opened his mouth to say something and stopped as we heard voices ahead of us. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I caught a glimpse of dark green through the trees. I pulled Dr. McKay down behind a tree and checked my side arm again.

"Is it Genii?" McKay whispered peeking out behind the tree. I pulled him back in.

"Do you want to get us caught?" I whispered furiously. I could hear the voices getting closer. I clicked the radio three times. Hoping Sheppard would understand what that meant. McKay had his gun out as well. McKay dared to look out again. That was a mistake because he found himself face to face with a Genii soldier. Another one appeared at my side and grabbed for my gun but I managed to fire it off hitting him in the leg. He swore and dropped to the ground. I turned to get Rodney and get the hell out of there, but he was being held by two other Genii.

"Where is Col. Sheppard" one of them shouted pointing his gun at me. I still had my gun pointed at them as well. "Don't be stupid" he said laughing a little "We have Dr. McKay here and I don't think you want him dead" I slowly lowered my weapon. My mind was racing, this was all too familiar. As I lowered my gun the other Genii grabbed it from me. He tied my hands up and then made Dr. McKay and I walk. We head back towards the gate. I was praying that Sheppard and Teyla would be there. I wasn't that lucky there was no one at the gate when we got there. The Genii had taken my radio and guns. McKay looked scared. I tried not to let the gnawing sensation in my stomach take over. The head Genii took my radio and turned it on.

"Col. Sheppard" He said into it. "If you want your friends alive you'd better come talk to us." He released the button and I could hear static, but Sheppard didn't respond. "Col. Sheppard" the Genii repeated. Still no answer.

"Do you really think he's that stupid?" I asked hoping to distract the Genii. "There's no way Dr. McKay and I are important enough to the mission that he'd sacrifice himself." The Genii chuckled.

"Maybe you aren't that important but I know Dr. McKay already." He said smirking. I don't know why but even as I was tied up I wanted to smack that smirk right off. I instead turned to Rodney.

"You know this nutjob?" I asked kicking a rock in his general direction. McKay recovered enough to speak.

"This is Farin. He's a scientist" he put a lot of scorn into the word scientist and I think if his hands had been free he wouldn't have put air quotes around it. "He's the one who was helping with the nuclear weapons they were working on a while back" I looked at Farin. My radio squawked.

"Darrow where the hell are you?" Sheppard's voice came over the radio followed by Sheppard himself as he walked into the clearing around the gate. "Well I guess that answered my question." Sheppard said. Farin was distracted by Sheppard and I had managed to get out of my bonds. I used the cloth they'd tied me up and put it around Farin's throat holding him from behind. Sheppard and Teyla guarded the other two Genii.

"There's more of us" Farin said laughing a little "You'll never dial the gate out of here." He was right because all of a sudden there were bullets flying around the gate. I shoved Farin away from me and ran to the gate. I started dialing Atlantis. Sheppard and Teyla started covering me and McKay started whining about his hands still being tied.

"I'm sorry McKay I would untie you if I could" I shouted as I hit the last chevron. "Everybody through" I said pulling Rodney through the gate with me. We hit the Atlantis gate room floor rather hard. Sheppard started pulling us up off the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked untying Rodney's hands. McKay nodded. "That was some fast thinking Darrow" Sheppard said. I nodded slowly.

"McKay I'm gonna kill you." I said getting angry. "Do you realize you could have gotten us killed?" I took a step nearer to him and then collapsed. Apparently I'd been shot in the arm and had lost a lot of blood.


	5. Chapter 5

"Doc is she gonna be okay?" I drowsily heard Sheppard's voice somewhere in the room. It must be a room right? I was so sore and souped up on pain meds I didn't care at the moment.

"She'll be fine lad" Beckett's voice said "She just lost a lot of blood. I patched her arm up easy peasy"

"Why'd she get so mad at me?" Rodney's voice floated above my head somewhere too. "It's not like I got Farin all riled up." There was a pause. Maybe Sheppard or Beckett gave him a look.

"Don't you remember the report that came through a year ago about an SG team getting into hot water off world, the one where the entire team got killed?" Sheppard's voice was grim. "That was her team. She was pretty badly wounded when they brought her back from the planet, but everybody else was gone." There was complete silence. Even McKay was speechless. I took that opportunity to make some noise. I moaned and tried opening my eyes. I was in the infirmary and I could see Beckett hovering above me.

"How do ye feel lass?" He asked me his blue eyes full of concern.

"Like I got hit by a bus." I mumbled. I tried lifting my arm that hadn't been shot and found that it was very heavy. "How much pain killer did you pump into me?" I asked hoping that I was being understood. From the small smile that was on Beckett's face I think I was.

"Enough to help you not feel anything." Beckett said checking the monitors I was hooked up to. "You should be fine in a couple of days" Sheppard's face came into view above me.

"You gave us a scare Darrow" he said giving me a smirk, but his eyes were still worried. "but without you dialing the gate we might still be paling around with the Genii" I gave him a weak smile.

"Is McKay all right?" I asked trying to turn my head to look for him, but that made my head throb.

"I'm fine" McKay's voice said as he too came into view above me. "but I didn't get shot. Well not this time." I laughed a little and winced as my head continued to throb. Beckett noticed.

"C'mon lads let the lady rest. I'll let her go when she feels better." He started shooing them out of the infirmary. I tried to thank him but my body decided sleep was better than manners.

I ventured out of the infirmary two days later with my arm in a sling. Beckett had made sure I rested as much as possible, much to Sheppard's frustration as well as my own. McKay had emailed me earlier that morning to tell me that the team was going off world and would be back later. I followed my nose to the commissary. I grabbed some food and sat down at a table to eat. Moments later I was joined by Ronan. It struck me as funny that I had been transferred to replace Ronan since he'd been shot in the arm and managed to be shot in the arm myself during my first week. Ronan however wasn't wearing his sling.

"Did Beckett clear you for duty?" I asked. Ronan looked up from his potatoes.

"Nope" he went back to eating. I kept looking at him. "Sheppard took Lorne with him" Ronan supplied as an answer. I nodded.

"So you're still stuck in the city?" I said starting to eat my own food. Ronan didn't answer but he started stabbing his meatloaf harder. Then as if he wanted to change the subject he asked me a question I'd been hoping to avoid.

"Why'd they move you out here? We already have a Colonel" I shrugged.

"I was rotting away in the SGC mourning people I couldn't help any more." I said.

"Why not?" Ronan said in between bites.

"Cause they were dead." I said bluntly. If anyone would be able to deal with that Ronan would and apparently he did because that was the final word on the matter.

"McKay doesn't hate you, Sheppard respects you so I guess you'll fit in here fine" he said wolfing down the rest of his food and standing up.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day I again found myself alone on Atlantis. The team had been called to the mainland to talk with the Athosians. I was tired of doing nothing so I decided to change the light bulb in the hallway outside my quarters which had gone out a few days before. I'd found a ladder and the bulb. I was standing about 9 feet in the air perched precariously because of my arm being in a sling. I had almost gotten the new bulb screwed in when I heard noise from below me. I turned slightly and saw Dr. Beckett standing at the foot of the ladder looking panicked.

"Lass what're ye doin' up there?" he said his voice full of concern.

"I'm changing a light bulb" I said irritated turning back to screw it in. "I'm not here for your entertainment Dr. Beckett."

"Ye can call me Carson" Beckett said "Now please get down before you fall and hurt yourself."

"Carson I'm not a child" I said giving the bulb a final turn just to make sure it was secure. "There I'm finished." I started making my way down the ladder when my foot slipped off the rung and I fell backward landing on Beckett. We ended up in a pile on the floor.

"Holy Crap" Beckett said "don't do that again please" I winced as I got up from the floor. I was going to feel this in the morning.

"I'll try not to" I said sarcastically holding out my hand to help him up. He grabbed the arm that had been shot to steady himself. "Ow!" I yelped.

"Ach! Sorry Lass" Carson said letting go immediately. "Let me have a look at your stitches. I gingerly took my arm out of its sling. Beckett examined the small wound where he'd cut the bullet out of my arm. He breathed a sigh of relief. "They're still holding. Ye should be back on duty in the next couple of days"

"Thank goodness for that" I said helping Beckett fold up the ladder. "I'm going crazy being stuck inside all the time"

"I'm sure" Beckett said smiling. We carried the ladder back to storage. I was going to head up to the commissary to eat dinner when my radio buzzed. Beckett's must have buzzed as well because he jumped at the same time.

_*This is Weir. Sheppard just came back from the mainland. I'd like both of you to come up to my office to meet with him*_

I sighed.

"We'd better head up there I guess." Beckett nodded. We took the lift to Weir's office. Sheppard and Teyla were sitting in the chairs by Weir's desk and Rodney was pacing the floor. "What's going on?" I asked as soon as Beckett and I were through the door.

"The Athosians want to move to another planet." Lorne said speaking up from his slouched position on one wall.

"and that's a problem?" I asked. Sheppard stood up.

"We don't have a planet to send them to." He said glancing at Teyla.

"John there are many planets in the database where we could move my people." She argued

"Ones that haven't been checked out. For all we know there could be Wraith or Genii on them." Sheppard replied. "and I don't have the manpower to check them all out."

"Actually John" Elizabeth spoke up. "That's why I called Col. Darrow here. Dr. Beckett has just informed me that Ronan will be returning to active duty tomorrow and therefore Col. Darrow would be free to check out these planets with a team of her own. I was thinking Rodney could help her out." I looked first from Weir to Sheppard to McKay.

"What about my research?" Rodney objected before I had a chance to say anything. "I have important research that needs to be finished." Weir looked hard at Rodney.

"What ever it is I'm sure Dr. Zalenka can handle it until you get done helping the Colonel. In fact it should give you some incentive to work faster." She said ending the discussion.

"Elizabeth, ye haven't even asked if I've cleared Col. Darrow for duty" Beckett said.

"Is she cleared Carson?" Weir said.

"Well yes she is in a couple more days, as long as she doesn't fall off anymore ladders" he looked sideways at me and I had the decency to flush slightly.

"Then the matter is settled. You two can head out Thursday morning. If you need military backup you can take Maj. Lorne's team." I nodded and then headed to my quarters. I'd unpacked almost everything in the free time I'd had over the past few days. The picture of my team was still sitting on the bedside table, but all my clothes were put away. I'd asked for some mats to be brought from the gym so I could work out in the peace of my own room. I started throwing my field gear together for Thursday when my door buzzed. I answered it to find Dr. McKay standing outside his arms crossed.

"Can I come in?" he asked before even saying hello. I turned and started putting my gear together again. "Listen, it's not like I don't want to go off-world with you." He said walking into my rooms. "I just have this research that's really important and…." he trailed off. He'd been making his way around my room. He paused by the bed and picked up the picture of my team much like Carson had back at the SGC. "Is this them?" he asked. I nodded. I started cleaning my gun as McKay continued talking. "Sheppard said they were all killed off-world. Is that why you got so mad at me?" I looked up at him.

"That mission was a little too close to home." I said rubbing furiously at my gun barrel. "To be honest you remind me a lot of Felix, but more whiney." McKay didn't seem to be phased by my insult. "I just didn't want to lose my team again. It almost killed me the last time." McKay didn't say a word but gave me a puzzled look. I sighed and blew a stray lock of hair out of my face. "The reason I was living at the SGC is because for three months after my team died I had a total of 4 suicide attempts by ODing on Pain Killers. Gen. O'Neill made me start seeing the shrink everyday as well as Dr. Lam the medical doctor. I didn't start making it out of my slump until 8 months after it all happened. Then when the year anniversary of the incident was coming up I slipped back into it. I started walking around the base at weird times, and sleeping during the day. Jack finally cornered me and transferred me out here." I finished cleaning my gun and noticed that my hands were shaking. Rodney looked uncomfortable.

"You still didn't have to yell at me." He said his voice very soft. I laughed a little.

"I'll try to remember that next time I save your ass from the Genii" I said "Although I'm hoping we don't run into anything on these planets."


	7. Chapter 7

McKay and I geared up to head out to P58-FSX. The MAPL hadn't read any wraith or genii, but it hadn't the last time either. Sheppard had given me some advice at dinner the night before and that was to take extra granola bars with me and then use them as bribes for McKay.

"I hate walking" McKay said for the hundredth time as we made our way through the under growth. "It gives me blisters" I sighed.

"I know McKay. You told me that 10 minutes ago" I said kicking a rock off the small path in front of me. "and 10 minutes before that." I stopped suddenly making McKay run into me.

"What is it?" he asked. I held up my hand to tell him he should be quiet. I had seen something up ahead but I wasn't really sure what it was. Definitely something that moved. Whatever it was made the brush rustle and I trained my gun on that spot. Slowly a small child made it's way out of the brush. A man ran up behind it covering her small body with his own.

"Please don't shoot!" He said looking up at us. "She's just a child" I slowly let my gun lower but still kept my finger on the trigger. I heard McKay give a sigh of relief behind me.

"Well no use in checking the planet out anymore" he said "C'mon let's go back to the gate." I grabbed McKay's sleeve. Even though we couldn't move the Athosians here we could at least see who these people were.

"Hold on McKay" I whispered. Then I said aloud "Don't worry, we were just taking precautions." The man straightened and put himself between us and the child.

"Precautions from what?" he asked eyeing our clothes and my gun.

"Ever hear of the Genii?" McKay said "They don't like us very much."

"The Genii have not been here for many months" the man said "they do not think we are worthy trading partners anymore since they took all of the ore from the mine." He seemed a bit disgusted by this statement and his lip curled slightly.

"Mine?" McKay asked. "What kind of mine?" the man shrugged.

"The village mine. We had no use for the ore but the Genii wanted it and traded many things for it." I glanced at McKay. I knew nothing about nuclear weapons but if this ore had something to do with them we could be in a lot of trouble. McKay leaned over the whisper in my ear what I'd already feared.

"That could be really bad if it's uranium" I nodded not taking my eyes off the man.

"We should go" I said my stomach sinking as I thought about having to meet new people here on this planet. "We can get Sheppard and come back later" I knew McKay would support that plan. At least I hoped he would.

"Go where?" the man spoke up "Through the ancestral ring? That is how the Genii traveled here." I shifted from foot to foot still holding my P90.

"We use the ring, but we're gonna have to come back to visit some other time" I said "We're late getting back" McKay nodded. It had become eerily quiet around the woods. I turned to go and McKay grabbed my arm to stop me. I looked back at the man. He had shoved the girl behind him and had a pistol in his hand.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." He said aiming his gun at me. Two more men came out of the woods one grabbed the child and the other trained his gun on Rodney. These men were wearing genii uniforms. "Tell Commander Farin we have the Atlanteans." He said to the Genii with the girl. He turned to me "Now Col. Darrow I think its best you hand over your weapons" I slowly handed over my P90 and the Genii grabbed my pistol and C4 from my vest. Farin came through the trees.

"Col. Darrow how nice to see you and Dr. McKay again" he said smiling "You'd better be careful or people will start to talk about how much time you two spend together." I glared at him,"Take them back to the village and send some one to watch the gate. No doubt Col. Sheppard will be here soon" Farin said. I was blindfolded and from McKay's protests I think he was also. We walked for what felt like hours and I felt us go indoors. We were sat in chairs and tied then they pulled the blindfolds off. I blinked as the light hit my eyes. We were in a musty room lit by the sunlight from the windows. It could have been a tavern once but that was a long time ago.

"I'm starting to hate going off world with you McKay" I said "We always get ambushed by the Genii." I looked at him. He met my eyes and nodded.

"One time is a coincidence. Twice is just plain bad luck." He said. The Genii guarding us had left and gone outside. "Any chance we'll make it out of this?" he asked. I shook my head.

"If they're watching the gate Sheppard won't be able to surprise them. Besides we had a three hour limit before check in. It's only been two if your watch is still correct." I glanced at McKay's wrist. McKay sighed in frustration. I tested the knots we'd been tied with. They were tight and very hard to reach with my fingers. "I can't get at these knots either." I said.

"Neither can I" McKay answered "even though I used to be an genius at untying knots." He started talking about his scout troop or whatever he was in when he was little. I shushed him when I heard noise in the corner. The little girl from earlier came out of the shadows. She couldn't be more than six or seven.

"Can you help us?" I asked pleading with her. "Can you untie us?" the little girl slowly shook her head.

"They'll kill them" she said "They said they would. They'll kill them all." She turned to go.

"Please" I said "Just untie us they won't know it was you. We can rescue them." The girl turned back and took a couple steps closer. "Just untie me." I begged her. She pulled a small knife from her belt and cut the ropes holding my hands. I got myself untangled and then used her knife to cut the bonds on my feet. I then cut Rodney loose. "Thank you" I said pressing the knife back into the girls hands.

"What do we do know?" McKay asked checking to make sure the guards were still at their posts. Unfortunately they were still there. I looked around. There was a backdoor it looked like but I doubted we would get far by sneaking out that way.

"We need to create a distraction" I said "What do you still have on you?" I asked checking my own pockets for whatever was left. A small picture of SG7 and the granola bars were the only things the Genii hadn't taken. McKay however pulled out a small bundle of C4. I grabbed it.

"I guess they figured I wouldn't be carrying anything" he said shrugging. I handed him the granola bars.

"Take these and her" I pointed at the girl. "I'll set this up and then we have to leave really fast. We can circle around and hide until Atlantis sends more people. I have no idea where the gate is from here. Go!" I said when McKay didn't move. I set the C4 near the door and set it to go off. Then I grabbed McKay and ran out the door. Once we were about 15ft away I set off the C4. Luckily the tavern wasn't far from the trees and we dodged behind some for cover.

"That worked out well." Rodney said breathing hard. I nodded. The girl was clinging on my arm very tightly and where I had been shot was beginning to throb.

"It's okay" I said peeling her off of me. "What's your name?"

"Lexa" she said sniffling a little. I tried smiling at her.

"Okay Lexa, let's get out of here. McKay which way to the gate?" I asked watching the Genii trying to put out the fire cause by the explosion.

"I don't know they took my scanner" McKay said "and I'm horrible with directions." I sighed and looked up through the trees. The sky above was like nothing I had seen before. There were two suns in the sky and one was smaller and dark red.

"Well I don't think we're going to be able to use the sun" I said still watching the Genii. "but we have to leave otherwise they'll find us"

"Of course we couldn't use the sun, that's going under the assumption that this planet revolved around its sun just like Earth revolves around our sun." Rodney said his voice filled with annoyance. I shot him a look.

"There's no time for a physics lesson McKay" I whispered fiercely. "C'mon" I grabbed Lexa's hand and led the way through the trees around the small cluster of buildings. It was hard to see clearly through the trees, but it seemed that the Genii had gotten the fire under control. We made our way as quickly and quietly as possible around the village. I had no idea where we were going, but away from the Genii seemed like a good idea.

"Caity wait" McKay said. I turned to look and he was heaving for breath.

"McKay we have to keep moving" I said going to him to pull him along.

"I know. I'm just so tired. The adrenaline is wearing off." He said gasping for air. I began to lose hope. I looked at Lexa who was also catching her breath.

"Do you know where the gate is?" I asked her. She gave me a questioning look.

"The ring of the ancestors" McKay gasped out. Lexa's eyes lit up and she nodded.

"It is not far from here" she said heading off through the trees. I grabbed McKay.

"C'mon Rodney, just a little bit more and then we'll be home" I said reassuring myself more than him. With a sense of direction we had a renewed energy and headed off after Lexa.

"Should we trust her?" McKay asked. "I mean the last time she was just a pawn in the hands of the Genii" I looked sideways at him.

"You didn't see the look in her eyes when I asked her to untie me. It was utter fear" I said. "Now do you have a plan to get through the gate once we reach it?" McKay shook his head.

"Just wait for Sheppard to come through I guess" he said. We caught up with Lexa as she stopped on a small ridge. Below us was the gate. A group of Genii surrounded it.

"You don't have anymore C4 do you?" I asked McKay hopefully.

"No, you managed to use it all back in the village" he answered. "All I have is this." He held up the granola bar I'd given him when I took his C4. I checked my watch. It was about 45 minutes since we had supposed to have checked in.

"Would Sheppard give us the benefit of the doubt and wait?" I asked "or would he come right when we missed the deadline?"

"He would wait a little bit, but not that long" McKay said opening the granola bar to eat. I grabbed half of it and gave it to Lexa who was eyeing the bar hungrily. McKay protested but I shot him a look that made him shut up. We were sheltered in the trees and sat there McKay and Lexa munching on their granola bar. The gate activated and the Genii went on alert. I slapped McKay in the arm to get his attention.

"We'll sneak down and try to rush the gate"

"and get us all killed" McKay hissed back. "We have to wait until Sheppard comes through the gate." I expected Sheppard to come through the gate or at least a MALP, but instead a couple of small balls came through.

"Close your eyes" I said pulling McKay down. I knew the range of flash bombs wasn't as far away as us but it could still give us a head ache. After a minute I looked out onto the field where the gate was. A dozen or so marines came through the gate shooting at the few Genii that were there. "C'mon it's now or never" I said pulling Lexa and McKay with me as I clambered down the slope. I grabbed a pistol from a fallen Genii and covered McKay and Lexa as they ran for the gate.

"Colonel nice to see you alive" Maj. Lorne shouted as I came up next him.

"Good to be alive" I shouted back. "There's a lot more Genii about two miles from here. We'd better get out of here ASAP" Lorne nodded.

"Fall back to the gate." He shouted at his men. One of them was carrying Lexa. We ran to the gate. I looked to the side for Rodney and saw him being held by two Genii. I stepped forward to go after them but Lorne had a hold on my arm and pulled me through.


	8. Chapter 8

We came out into the gate room in Atlantis. Beckett rushed up with a medical team to attend to us. I brushed him off.

"We need to dial there again. McKay's still there!" I shouted practically shoving Beckett off of me as I grabbed a P90 from a nearby marine. When the gate didn't light up I looked up at the gate tech. He was looking at Weir who was looking at me. "Dr. Weir we have to go now" I said still shouting. "Lorne give me some C4" I said holding out my hand. He didn't move a muscle. "Damn it Lorne" I shouted. Sheppard came up next to me.

"Darrow I want to save Rodney as much as you but we have to have a plan to get him back" he said quietly pulling on the gun in my hands. I let it go feeling limp. Beckett came up next to me.

"Lass we'll get him back, but we can't be running back willy nilly back through the gate into who knows how many Genii" he said. I fought to pull my arm away from him.

"Carson" my voice broke "I can't lose him again." I was being blinded by my fear of losing another team mate.

"Ye haven't lost him and ye won't." Carson said injecting something in my arm. "There's a sedative not enough to knock ye out but enough to calm ye down" I immediately felt my muscles relax. Carson took me upstairs and sat me down in a chair in Weir's office. Weir was there sitting behind her desk. Sheppard was pacing the floor off to one side and Ronan was leaning against the wall. "I'm afraid I have to leave ye, but a couple of Lorne's men need tendin' to" Carson said.

"Of course Carson" Weir said. "Maj. Lorne what is the situation on the planet."

"A few dozen Genii. We didn't get much past the gate" Lorne said. "Col. Darrow might know more." My head was a little fuzzy from the shock and the drugs but I heard my name and looked up.

"Farin was there, along with a few dozen men. There's a small village about 3 miles from the gate, it's abandoned and they're missing a tavern since we blew it up." I said rubbing my temples.

"You blew up a building?" Weir said. I nodded.

"We need to go get McKay" I said trying to stand up but soon found my legs wouldn't support me. Sheppard stopped pacing and helped me sit back down.

"I think we can do it, if we take a jumper. We can use the cloak and fly over the village. If the Genii are still there we'll be able to sneak up on them." Sheppard said. I nodded.

"I'm coming with you." I said "That's an order Colonel" I added narrowing my eyes when Sheppard started to protest. "Now pack up, we'll take Lorne's team and the rest of us. We need to get McKay out of there as soon as possible" Ronan grunted in agreement and checked his gun. The little bit of sedative had run its course through my system. I regained my balance and headed out to the armory with Sheppard. I repacked my vest with C4, a new pistol and P90.

We were getting in the jumper. I was in the front seat next to Sheppard. He leaned over.

"Keep a cool head Darrow. Otherwise I'll ignore rank and pull you out of there." He said. I sighed.

"I'm sorry Sheppard this is all too familiar especially with Rodney being in trouble." I answered.

"Look we've been in this situation before. We go in, get him out and be home in time for dinner" Sheppard said "Now dial the gate" I punched the buttons on the consol in the jumper. The gate lit up and as the 7th chevron locked the gate flushed and we started through. The jumper shot through the worm hole. We came out on the other side and the field where the gate was appeared to be empty. Sheppard cloaked the jumper.

"If they're smart they had people watching the gate" Lorne said coming up front to look out the window as Sheppard flew over the trees. I pointed to the left.

"The village should be up that way. If they've got a camp here it's probably over that way" There was a small section where the trees were cleared and we could see roof tops.

"That looks like it right there" Sheppard said. "Can you see anybody?" Lorne and I both craned our necks as Sheppard made a pass around the buildings with the jumper.

"There's movement" Lorne said "Looks like at least a dozen people" I nodded.

"That's how many I count. We also might have villagers involved" I said. "Lexa said something about Farin threatening people" Sheppard nodded.

"We'll keep and eye out, but our first concern is getting McKay out of there." He said. "I'm going to land the jumper about half a mile out and we'll move in on foot." He set the jumper down in a small clearing in the trees. We geared up and Sheppard opened the jumper door. "Goodman, Jacobs you two stay here and keep and eye out for anything weird. Radio if you see something." He said talking to two of the marines. They nodded. The rest of Lorne's team which was six marines, Ronan, Sheppard and I headed out of the jumper.

"The village is about a half mile west of here." I said holding up the jumper's scanner. "I'm reading 25 life signs." We walked in the direction of the village treading carefully through the dense underbrush. It took about 20 minutes to cover the half mile because we had to step so carefully. Coming up to the village we crouched in the bushes just outside of a building. I could see several Genii soldiers walking around. One building about 50 feet from the trees had three Genii guarding the front door.

"That's gotta be where McKay is" Lorne whispered. Sheppard and I both nodded.

"It's gonna be hard to get him out of there. The building is very exposed" I said pulling out my binoculars. Looking through them I could see movement through the window of the building. There were definitely people in there but I couldn't make out faces through the grimy glass.

"If we make a diversion they'll probably kill McKay or just run off with him." Sheppard said whispering just loud enough for all of us to hear "Unless we time the diversion right." He grabbed a couple rocks from the ground. Placing them in formation he laid out his plan. He would take Lorne's men and Ronan around to a different side of the village. On their way there they would pick off as many Genii as possible using wraith stunners. Once they were in position they would signal me and Lorne and we would rush out together. I would head for the building with Lorne and get McKay. It sounded simple enough but unless Sheppard picked off a lot of Genii with the stunners we were going up against some serious odds. Sheppard and his men left. It was only about a minute before my radio clicked signaling that Sheppard was ready. I looked briefly and Lorne who nodded. We ran out of the cover of the bushes firing the P90s. We shot at least 5 of the Genii including the three around the door. Lorne covered me while I kicked the door in. Going in I found Farin and two of his men with Rodney. I shot the two guards first and then trained my gun on Farin. He was holding a pistol to McKay's head.

"Give it up Farin" I shouted pointing my gun at him. Lorne came through the door and pointed his own gun at Farin. "Let him go" my voice had dropped by several volumes and now was a threatening growl. Farin looked panicked and was sweating horribly.

"Why should I? You're just going to kill me" he said blinking as the sweat hit his eyes. "Maybe I should just shoot Dr. McKay" he moved the pistol he was holding ever so slightly and something inside of me broke. I fired a single shot out of my P90 and hit him square in the forehead. His dead weight dropped to the ground and McKay stepped quickly away from the body.

"Colonel we have Dr. McKay" Lorne said into his radio. Sheppard's voice floated back over the radio.

_*Good, get the hell out of there we're gonna blow a couple of these buildings.* _

We didn't need to be told twice. I handed my pistol to Rodney and headed out the door with Lorne. Sheppard and his men had cleaned up pretty well there were dead or stunned Genii covering the ground. Sheppard met us at the edge of the tree line.

"Farin?" he asked. I just shook my head and started walking to the jumper.


	9. Chapter 9

The entire trip back to Atlantis was covered in a shroud of awkward silence. McKay was even quiet for once. One of Lorne's men had been shot in the shoulder but because of the vest it hadn't penetrated very far. Lorne sat up front with Sheppard this time and dialed the gate. He radioed ahead to have a medical team sent to the jumper bay. After the jumper was parked in the bay I left as quickly as I could. I walked in a daze up to my quarters and shedding my uniform and gear stepped under the icy spray of the shower. Then and only then did I let my emotions out of the box I kept them in during mission. I had done it. I had saved my team mate when all odds said that he should be dead. I hadn't been able to save Felix, Adams and Amy but Rodney was alive and that was a little bit of hope in the darkness that had covered me since SG7 was killed. Relief and sadness overwhelmed me and I stayed in the shower long after the dirt and grime of P58-FSX was rinsed down the drain. After what felt like an eternity I turned off the water and dried off. I put on a pair of uniform pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. I quickly braided my hair not having the patience to let it dry. I was tying my shoes when my door buzzed. I slowly stood up and went to answer it. McKay stood on the other side his face tight and a worried look on his face. I just stood there and after several minutes of silence I spoke up.

"Good to see you McKay" I said. McKay nodded then stepped forward and gave me a hug. I wasn't expecting that and as he wrapped his arms around me it took me a second to reciprocate the hug.

"Thank you" he said quietly. "Sheppard said you were the one who demanded you come back for me so fast." He let me go and I wiped my eyes. "He also said you swore at Lorne" I laughed a little.

"I guess I did" I said "I was just going to get dinner. Did you want to come?"

"Umm yeah" Rodney said "In fact I think Beckett, Sheppard and the rest are down there already" We headed down to the commissary. Everyone else was sitting at a table. Rodney and I loaded our plates up with food. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until the smell of whatever the kitchen staff had made hit my nose. I sat at the table with Sheppard, Teyla, Ronan and Beckett. Sheppard clapped me on the back.

"Good job today Darrow" he said. I nodded in thanks since my mouth was full of potatoes and Salisbury steak. Beckett pulled something out of his pocket.

"I'd thought it'd be nice to get a picture of all of us to remember us by." He said turning on his camera. He grabbed the arm of Chuck the gate technician as he walked past. "Here Lad take the picture." We all huddled together. "Make sure ye smile pretty Rodney" Carson said teasing and we all laughed before the flash went off. Chuck handed Beckett his camera back. "Thank ye lad" The rest of the meal was silent as we all dug into the food.

It had been four months since I'd come to Atlantis and I was frantically cleaning my quarters since we'd gotten news the day before that O'Neill was coming for a visit. I had just tossed the last of my clothes in the drawers when my door buzzed. I opened it to find Jack. He gave me a big hug.

"Caity" he said squeezing the breath out of me.

"Jack" I said then pushed him off. "I need air" he laughed and walked around my room. He stopped by the bedside table and picked up a picture like everyone seemed to do when they visited my room.

"You look happy Caity" he said smiling at the picture. It was the one from the night we'd saved Rodney.

"I am happy Jack" I replied "Now c'mon let me show you around" I grabbed his arm and led him out the door.


End file.
